Friday, July 19, 2013

52 Loaves Book Review

52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crustby William Alexander was one that I saw at the book sale years ago and thought it sounds like a really good book to read. I tried to remember it and I totally forgot it. It came up when I was looking for something else and I added it to my library reserve list. I am super excited to get a chance to read this book.

In the beginning of this book, the author has decided to plant a wheat field so that he could make his own bread from scratch (really scratch). This is the mission of the author and it goes through all of the experiences that the author goes through to make a loaf of present bread just like one that he had in a restaurant once years earlier. I think that he takes a lot of his ideas to the extreme but different from the normal American, he also knows that he is going to write this book because he is a writer by profession. He visited bakeries, went on a tour of where the flour is made, went to see the yeast being processed, and competed in the New York State Fair. Each adventure was a great story and very interesting. I think that it is something that many bakers would like to see and do but never get a chance or make it a priority. Then, he decides that he wants to bake in France. He signs up for a French bread cooking class at the Ritz and travels to Africa to cook bread in their special community ovens. The last adventure is to be the bread maker in an ancient Abby and teach the monks how to make bread again. Going through all of these experiments, he finally makes the perfect loaf of bread and enjoys the process!!

I thought that it was a fascinating book and I wish that I could do something near that neat. I know that I don't wouldn't be able to keep working on the same goal every week for a whole year but it is nice to read about someone else trying. I make bread but I use that with a disclaimer because I use the bread machine to make my once a week loaf of sandwich bread (something that William would not do). I have made a few loaves of bread from scratch but I don't do it on a regular basis. I do appreciate that it is a nice thing to do but I enjoy the ease of the bread machine. You throw everything in and 3 hours later, a loaf of bread pops out. It is like a crock pot...maybe not the highest standard of cuisine but super tasty and easy. There are recipes in the back of the book but they all call for levain (starter) which can be made but seems like something that I might not make the effort to do. If you are interested, I am sure that the recipes will be great!!! Whether or not you make bread (or are totally fearful of yeast), you should check out this book because the writing is entertaining and the stories very humorous!!! Let me know if you check it out!

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About Me

I am a stay at home mother of an active preschooler and wife to a very hard working husband. We live in the Northern Virginia area (nicknamed NOVA). Both my husband and I are transplants to the area but we have made it our home for over 15 years.

After the birth of my son, I saw a morning talk show featuring the Coupon Mom. I would love to tell you what show or what she talked about but I just had a baby so I really don't remember. I googled it and found this link which looks to be during my maternity leave so it must have been the Today show. I thought it seemed like a good idea to save a little money on baby stuff so I checked out a few websites. From there I was hooked!!! I might have started with baby stuff but the stockpile slowly grew.

My mother in law came to visit and decided that she was on a limited income (trying to be retired) and she should learn how to coupon. Taking the opportunity to use my two years of research and trial and error, she did exactly what I told her (most of the time). She joked because the first few times, she just bought whatever I bought to make it easier. Then she started picking out her own things but making me check her out so that she didn't "mess it up." After a few months, she could do it on her own and saved tons. I taught my first student how to use coupons to save fortunes. She was also hooked and agreed that we could never go back to the other way of life and throwing money away.

Everything in the Northern Virginia area is very high priced (as is most of the country now) so we were challenged to figure out how to make it on one income before I could stay home with our son. I worked full time for two years while taking care of my son full time but something had to change. After couponing for two years with no budget, I started tracking my purchases every month. Many websites suggest a weekly spending limit but I just couldn't do it because of the ups and downs of the sale cycles. It was making me totally stressed so I gave up and looked for the next solutions.

One website told me that the best way to determine a budget was to cut back each month and see if you saw the difference. In 2011, we started the year spending $230-$360 per month and slowly decreased to $130-$160 per month (averaged $217.86 per month). For 2012, we set a monthly budget of $160 (flexible to $180-$200 in the months that we need to stock up on meats or other expensive items). I have gotten more creative in the past year by baking my own bread, making treats each week, and making all home cooked meals.

I try to get lots of great books out of the library in order to make sure that I am doing everything that I can to make our money stretch. I read frugal books, economic books, mommy books, and cook books. My cousin suggested that I read some "fun" books so I have added a few of those into the monthly list for a vacation from the serious material which makes a great balance. I hope that you decide to check out a few books that I have found free through my local library and suggest some books that you think that I should read.

Thank you for visiting my blog and I look forward to getting lots of comments from you on my posts. I would love to get book suggestions, recipe ideas, and crafty projects that you are working on. I would also love to hear about your shopping successes. Please feel free to send me details about your great trips and I would love to post them!! Look forward to talking with you soon.